Four presidents in the ‘awkward pew’

Journalists could not stop speculating about the subtle occurrences that transpired in just a few moments during the state funeral service for George H.W. Bush. There in the front row, and very much on-camera was a rare gathering: President Trump was on the aisle seat, with first lady Melania Trump to his left; then came former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton and former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter.

It was a historic and unprecedented line-up, and a historic event. But the coverage drifted into drama.

“No kumbaya moment at the National Cathedral as current and surviving presidents and their spouses shared the Awkward Pew during the state funeral of President George H.W. Bush,” declared Deadline Hollywood.

The BBC agreed, noting that “four presidents sat (awkwardly) on one pew.”

USA Today also parsed the awkward factor.

“President Donald Trump stared straight ahead. Former President Bill Clinton scanned the program. Former President Jimmy Carter checked his watch. The atmosphere at the rare meeting of the president with his predecessors at the funeral of George H.W. Bush on Wednesday was chilly. Trump shook hands with former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, did not engage with Bill or Hillary Clinton and promptly took his seat at the end of the row,” the news organization noted.

“Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman didn’t speak for years. Historians said no previous chief executive has spoken as publicly and as harshly about predecessors as Trump has,” USA Today later noted, quoting two historians, one of whom said Mr. Trump “entered the White House on a trail of scorched earth” and did not respect public institutions.

For his part, Mr. Trump was gracious, noting in a tweet prior to his arrival at the cathedral, “Looking forward to being with the Bush family. This is not a funeral, this is a day of celebration for a great man who has led a long and distinguished life. He will be missed!”

The Hill detected a positive moment: “President Trump received rare praise from Sen. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican and a longtime critic, over his tweet regarding former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral Wednesday: ‘Well said, Mr. President,’ Flake wrote in response to Trump’s tweet.”

MIXED FEELINGS

It is hard to sort out the intricate events these days. But some work on it. In an appearance on CNN, author and retired Army Lt. Col. Ralph Peters regarding the status of retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn after special counsel Robert Mueller recommended no jail time for the former officer, based on his “substantial assistance and other considerations.”

“I was not. Mueller is playing chase. Trump is sending the signal, ‘Hey, shut up and I pardon you.’ And Mueller is saying, ‘You cooperate and you might get to go home,'” he replied.

“I really have mixed feelings on this. As a former officer I’d send him to jail for life. He betrayed his country. But as someone who’s known Mike since 1985, he has served his country well. He was a superb officer in the field. He was not a good strategist, he is not a strategic-level officer. But in Afghanistan, Iraq, just terrific work. So you wind up being torn about it. On a personal level, his life is ruined. He is broke. A proud man has been humbled to the nth degree. But on the other hand this was — to me, for a former officer, a military intelligence general, to have done what he did with the Russians — and we don’t know all the details yet — he may be pardonable, but it’s unforgivable,” Mr. Peters said.

MR. COMEY IN MANHATTAN

Time passes. Former FBI director James B. Comey will offer private testimony Friday on Capitol Hill, responding to a subpoena by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, Virginia Republican — with a transcript of his testimony to be released afterward.

“Republicans agree I’m free to talk when done and transcript released in 24 hours. This is the closest I can get to public testimony,” Mr. Comey tweeted earlier this week.

He will have a chance to talk this weekend. Mr. Comey will appear at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, a favorite forum for high-profile folk. Admission is $50; the event, hosted by NBC News political analyst Nicolle Wallace, is sold out.

“In this sure-to-be riveting talk, he shares insights into the strongholds and fault lines existing at the highest levels of justice in America, and the challenges he faced in navigating them,” the event organizers note. “He will discuss his rise from Yonkers native to prosecutor, deputy attorney general, private lawyer, law professor, and finally, FBI director, leading and driving our justice system. Hear firsthand about Comey’s views on ethical leadership, and about the values he sees as critical to justice and to our national security.”

HEARD: A DISCOURAGING WORD

In an epic study of “national character stereotypes” of America and Canada as reflected on social media, language patterns and other sources, a Canadian research team has a telling finding.

“We collected 44,405,347 tweets, of which 37,066,693 yielded usable tokens after our filters were applied,” the McMaster University team wrote in their analysis, noting that Americans favor abundant use of slang, emoji and “netspeak.”

And there was one more thing.

“American lexical choices show a clear relative preference for taboo words, including swear words, expletives, and racial slurs,” the study said, revealing that the most popular word used in American tweets was, uh, “s–t.”

And that was just the beginning of the naughty talk. In Canada, the most often used word was “great.”

POLL DU JOUR

• 66 percent of Americans say it’s more important for a president to inspire ordinary citizens than get his policies passed; 55 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of independents and 70 percent of Democrats agree.

• 34 percent say it’s more important to get policies passed than inspire people; 45 percent of Republicans, 29 percent of independents and 30 percent of Democrats agree.

• 59 percent say a president should be judged by his domestic policies; 66 percent of Republicans, 53 percent of independents and 62 percent of Democrats agree.

• 10 percent say a president should be judged by his foreign policy; 12 percent of Republicans, 10 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats agree.

• 31 percent are unsure which policy is more important; 22 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of independents and 30 percent of Democrats agree.

12 Comments

The whole reason Trump was invited By 41 was to bring the two parties back together in comity, and unity. No smart political wedding here because in smart weddings the two families sit on opposite sides of the church. People wonder why Trump did not shake Carter’s hand. I don’t think it was ever offered, unlike 41 who would have definitely offered his,,,besides, Carter failure might rub off and Trump could be allergic to peanuts. As far as Comey goes and the “Hear firsthand about Comey’s views on ethical leadership, and about the values he sees as critical to justice and to our national security.” I think Comey should hear and experience the same kind of views and actions as he displayed, by people secretly leaking to the press every dirty underhanded thought, word, and deed he did, discussed or displayed for the same kind of justice and security he offered WE THE PEOPLE, and our elected represented office holders who Comey politically kneecapped in mafia style “Control Freak/CYA” actions. I was amazed that during the entire ceremony Bill Clinton did not shut his mouth once (Even in above picture) while the others all kept theirs mostly closed. Must have been missing his pacifier, or dreaming of a good cigar experience.

Is Free Willy Clinton wearing cuffs? I would expect O’bama to have his hands on himself.

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inluminatuo

2:00 pm December 6, 2018 at 2:00 pm

What a terrible opportunity for a terrorist to take out all the remaining Presidents in one blow,,,,,,and save the American Taxpayer trillions in retirement benefit obligations, not to mention funeral expenses. Again, I am curious who pays for these funeral media edifications??? By what Bush 41 did for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, they should have offered to pickup the entire cost of his. Carter’s definitely will not cost the taxpayer peanuts. Maybe Bill and Hillary will cash out together and we can get a two for one funeral expense like we got a two for one Presidency. I hear they both want to be buried back in Hot springs so like Old Faithful, they can still spout out every hour on the hour. Talk about an environmental hazard.

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ltuser

11:11 pm December 6, 2018 at 11:11 pm

I certainly wanna know how much this whole frakas has cost us..

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Grizz

9:26 am December 7, 2018 at 9:26 am

Whatever it cost it was too much……..no one in government seems to understand they’re spending other peoples money. Let the show go on…….the circus isn’t leaving town.

“…Historians said no previous chief executive has spoken as publicly and as harshly about predecessors as Trump has,” USA Today later noted, quoting two historians, one of whom said Mr. Trump “entered the White House on a trail of scorched earth” and did not respect public institutions…”

The harsh criticism toward President Trump began even before he was sworn into office. So, USA Today, you ought to get your facts right.

And no previous presidents repeatedly made public statements about a sitting president……Until Donald Trump was elected.
George Bush even joined in on the act after setting silent during Seotoro’s entire debacle of an administration.

John Adams was so concerned about foreign influence (the French) on our press, he signed into law the 1798 Sedition Act, which made publishing anything critical of the government illegal. Jefferson reversed it. Sounds like the press Russian collusion of today.

First, most were too far from President Trump to shake hands.
second: did anyone else see Rosalyn Carter nodding off ala Ruth Ginsberg?
I thought she was gonna fall out of the pew. And ole “Jimmah” didn’t seem to even notice.
Hilarious.

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